Is A Tesla Solar Roof A Good Deal
Compared to other solar panel installations, a Solar Roof will be pricier. The price may be more or less justifiable depending on the condition of your current roof. If you’re due for a new roof, you’ll be writing a large check for that anyway.
If your goal is to generate solar for the least amount of money possible, a Solar Roof isn’t for you. Tesla’s online estimate for a house in Dallas, Texas, offered 12.46 kilowatts of solar generation and a Powerwall battery for $168,400. Tesla estimates 12 kilowatts of solar panels and a Powerwall at the same location will cost $26,966.
Another factor that could alter the price of your system is the complexity of your roof. Steep pitches, multiple levels and a lot of obstructions could drive up the cost.
Roof size does significantly affect the overall cost of a system. A small roof in Illinois could cost around $54,000 to $58,148 after the federal tax credit, Tesla estimates. That’s $3.78-$4.05 per watt, much closer to the cost of solar panels, though still more expensive .
Tesla recommends regular maintenance by a professional, though the details of that recommendation aren’t clear.
Are Tesla Solar Roofs Good
Tesla Solar Roof was originally launched back in 2016 and had a somewhat difficult rollout plagued by installation issues. This was largely due to the company underestimating the complexity and varying styles of roofing, causing unexpected delays and additional costs.
Roofs in some homes were unable to hold the solar tiles due to structural weaknesses, and Solar Roof has undergone multiple revisions since its official launch.
That said, the company has promised to make installation far smoother in the future, and there is still significant demand in the United States for Solar roofs with long waiting lists around the US.
Are The Savings Worth It
Tesla estimates an average electricity savings of around $1,800 per year with its solar roof system. Assuming a system lifespan of 30 yearsit certainly adds up! Think of choosing a Tesla Solar Roof as pre-paying your electricity bill for the next third of the century.
Will you be in the same property long enough to realize the savings? The good news is that if you sell your home, a Tesla Solar Roof is an eye-catching feature to boost your listing. Solar sufficiency will add considerable resale value to your house.
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Tip #: Make Sure Your Panels Are Regularly Monitored And Maintained
Routine maintenance checks will help keep your solar systems panel performance, meters, the inverter, and other parts running at maximum efficiency.6 Its also important to make note of any changes in your electric bills and energy usage.
If your solar panels are underperforming after a rainfall or being hosed down with water, or if you see an unusual spike in your utility bill, it may point to an electrical problem that needs to be addressed by a professional.7
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You May Become Internet
As one of the first to receive a solar roof, Toblers house has seen widespread online coverage. Thats filtered through into some neighborhood recognition.
I did have a guy knock on my door that lived in some other California city that Id never heard of, Tobler says. He was driving by to visit his dad, and he looked overhe said he actually recognized my house from the internet, and right away said thats the one! Thats the one with the solar roof!
You might enjoy watching this Inverse original:
Is Tesla Roof A Good Investment
Adding Solar Roof to your home will increase its value by up to 11%, making it a great investment, plus, youre generating your own electricity and thus saving on electrical bills.
Solar Roof tiles are also incredibly durable, and may even last longer than traditional roof tiles, making them an excellent investment. That said, solar panels also increase the value of your home, and so are also a great home investment.
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How Much Can You Save On Electricity Bills With The Tesla Solar Roof
You can eliminate all or most of your monthly electricity bill with a Tesla Solar Roof, just like you can with solar panels. There may be some stipulations though, like what kind of net metering program your utility offers and the size of your roof.
Even though you can potentially get rid of your electricity bill, you also have to think about how much youre saving compared to how much you paid for the system. Consider the example from earlier – the 6.14 kW Solar Roof in California, which would save you a little over $50,000 over its 25-year lifespan, which would just break even.
The traditional 5.55 kW solar system, on the other hand, would save you $64,000 over 25 years and have a payback period of around 5 years.
The Tesla Solar Roof payback period takes the entire installation into account, including the non-solar portion, because you have no choice but to get the entire roof replacement. But even if you looked at just the solar portion, the active shingles would break even after 7 years. 7 years is a great payback period, but its still longer than it would be if you just got regular solar panels.
Can A Tesla Solar Roof Power A House
In most cases, solar tiles should cover the majority of your power needs, but this depends both on the size of your roof and the amount of power you require daily. While the solar electricity your roof will generate will depend entirely on the size of your roof, for most medium-sized homes, you can easily generate around 10kW of power with solar tiles.
Its difficult to put into exact numbers, but solar tiles will generally produce around 812kW of power per 2,000 square feet of roofing.
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How Does A Solar Roof Work
Solar roofs are a type of solar panel that is installed on top of a home or building. Solar roofs are designed to absorb sunlight and convert it into electricity. Solar roofs are usually made out of photovoltaic cells, which are made out of semiconductor materials like silicon. Solar roofs can be either active or passive. Active solar roofs have photovoltaic cells that are connected to an inverter, while passive solar roofs do not have an inverter.
Tesla Solar Roof Pays For Itself
A Tesla Solar Roof will pay for itself through grid power savings. There isn’t a short-term monetary saving, but there are great benefits that come from having a Powerwall, which can be ordered separately for the Tesla Solar Roof. The Powerwall can keep electricity flowing at night or when there’s a power outage by using excess solar energy generated by the roof during the day. Tesla’s Solar Roof also has a 25-year warranty and is more durable and fire-resistant than a standard shingle roof.
If considering the financial side of a Solar Roof and the savings from reduced utility bills, it takes quite some time to pay off such a large investment. The Tesla Solar Roof with a Powerwall results in a 100 percent energy offset, meaning the bill for grid power could be as low as $0, depending on how grid power is charged at the location of installation. Dividing the total price of $44,500 by the $150 utility bill results in the total cost of the investment being recovered in 297 months, which is 24 years and 9 months. While a Tesla Solar Roof is definitely a long-term investment, it comes with plenty of benefits that can be enjoyed long before it fully pays for itself.
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The Final Verdict: Should You Buy A Tesla Solar Roof
The Tesla Solar Roof is a gorgeous product with a prohibitively high cost to install. Right now, its largely a premium solution for early adopters who dont mind paying more to access cutting-edge technology in high demand. Anyone who invests in the Solar Roof should also be willing to contend with more frequent maintenance than a traditional solar array might require.
Lastly, you should be willing to wait for production to catch up to demand. Just know that youll be running on Teslas schedule, and theyre a lot better about generating hype around new products than meeting production deadlines.
Tesla Solar Panels Vs Tesla Solar Roof
Tesla Solar Panels can be installed on top of existing roofs and are significantly cheaper than a Solar Roofthough still expensive compared to other solar panels on the market. The same two-story, 2,000 square foot house from the articles introduction would only need to spend $26,900 to have Tesla Solar Panels installed.
However, these panels would only generate 8.16 kW instead of the Solar Roofs 11.28 kW, making it more difficult to be self-powered. Powerwall also comes with the Tesla Solar Panels if you are interested in storing your energy.
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Can A Tesla Roof Power A House
Tesla Solar Roof owner Amanda Tobler might be the worlds most extreme early-tech adopter. In 2018, she let Tesla replace the roof of her California home with solar-harvesting energy tiles.
How long does it take for a Tesla roof to pay for itself?
Tesla says the roof pays for itself over time. The tiles are rated to collect energy for 30 years, meaning in practice they may wind up being cheaper in the long run than regular roofs, too. For the leaked solar roof quote provided to Electrek, Tesla estimated that the price of energy over 30 years would cost $65,466.
How Much Is A Tesla Powerwall 3
Powerwalls 14 kilowatt hour home battery can be used for up to 12 hours at a time, and can be charged in as little as 30 minutes. It will have a range of between 200 and 300 miles, depending on the battery pack and how many miles of range are left in the car. Tesla it will be the most affordable electric car in history.
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Does The Tesla Solar Roof Qualify For Solar Incentives
Yes, the Tesla solar roof does qualify for solar incentives like the 30% federal solar tax credit. However, only the portion of the costs associated with installing the active solar shingles will qualify for most incentives.
The costs of installing a Tesla Powerwall battery with your solar roof will also qualify for the federal tax credit, if you choose to install one.
For example, if a solar roof installation cost $40,000 total, with $10,000 of the total cost associated with the part of the roof that generates solar, the federal tax credit would be applied only to the $10,000 solar portion of the costs.
See which solar incentives, rebates, and credits you are eligible for
Are The Tesla Solar Roof Tiles Worth It
Since Tesla raised their prices, installing a Tesla Solar Roof is now much more expensive than it has been in recent years. It really only makes sense to install the Tesla Solar Roof if you really want to have the Tesla product or youre really in love with the Solar Roof aesthetic. Otherwise, it doesnt really pan out financially because the Solar Roof doesnt produce nearly as much electricity as regular solar panels.
If youre looking for a way to save the most on your electric bills, youre much better off going with a traditional solar panel installation. Even if you also have to replace your roof, youll end up spending less by going with a conventional roof replacement and solar installation, and youll get better savings out of the solar panels.
You should also keep Teslas reputation in mind if youre considering the Solar Roof. While they are extremely popular for their electric cars, the historically low customer reviews for Tesla Energy suggest their after-sales customer service isnt the best.
In fact, it took almost two years from when the solar shingles were announced to when the first ones were installed, and theres no official count of how many Solar Roofs are currently out there.
Before you jump into ordering their Solar Roof product, you should get multiple quotes from solar installers in your area to make sure youre getting the best price and quality for your solar panel installation.
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Is Tesla Solar Roof Right For You
Tesla Solar Roof is extremely durable, which will put the minds of many customers at ease. If you’re interested in seeing if a Solar Roof is a good choice for your home, contact us! We’ll give you a preliminary estimate of costs you can expect, benefits you can expect to receive, and whether a Solar Roof is a match for your home.
We look forward to hearing from you!
How Much Does A Tesla Solar Roof Cost
You can expect to spend anywhere from $35,000 to upwards of $70,000 for the installation of a Tesla Solar Roof. With that said, theres a lot that goes into the cost, making it a bit complicated to figure out what exactly youre being charged for and why.
And if were being honest, the way Tesla displays the pricing line items can be a bit tricky to navigate. Thats why weve broken down what factors influence the price and explain what exactly youre paying for.
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How To Get Teslas Solar Roof
Nochta ordered his roof in July 2020, months after Musk announced new third-generation tiles that would enable faster installations. But Nochta says he also did a lot of research to try and move the project along.
Nochta organized the permits for building the roof himself. He contacted people to get the correct permissions, chased up the utility company to get approval, and stayed home to ensure every inspection went smoothly. A previous contact from the utility company, who had helped with his 2016 installation, pitched in again to support Nochtas mission.
The people at Tesla may hate him, but Nochta says a super nice employee from Tesla Solar also contacted him to see if he could help them get the project off the ground faster.
The installation process took place over a couple of weeks in late 2020. It didn’t start well: Nochta had planned to remove the skylight from his roof. But the installers plans retained the feature. The mistake would have reduced Nochtas Solar Roof down to 7.07 kilowatts.
I would advise every single person to stay home on the first day and look at the plans of the installer, he says.
But by November 2020, the roof was fully installed. After another month of waiting for final approval from the utility company, Nochta switched on the roof in January 2021.
Nochta says his roof has produced 8,148 kilowatt-hours of energy in his first year of usage more than enough to cover the familys energy usage, even with an electric vehicle.
Tesla Solar Roof Cost Estimate
Rather than directly publishing rates, Tesla provides a Solar Roof calculator on their website that estimates the cost of installing a solar roof on your home. The calculator is based on your current electricity usage and the size of your home, among other factors. We ran three basic estimates to give you an idea of the price differences. Each estimate includes a roof replacement but does not factor in any incentives.
FYI: All estimates were run on July 13, 2021.
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Tesla changes their prices depending on a number of factors, including those listed below.
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Tesla Solar Roof Review: Is It Worth The Hype
Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced the companys Solar Roof shingles back in October 2016, causing a huge media stir. However, it wasnt until April 2018 that the electric vehicle manufacturer began the rollout of their first installed Solar Roofs. Even then, very few were installed, making it hard to gauge if the Tesla Solar Roof was as revolutionary as the company claimed it would be.
Then in October 2019, Tesla released the Solar Roof V3, boasting it as their best solar roofing product yet. With a 25-year weatherization warranty and a Class 3 hail rating, the new Tesla Solar Roof is expected to be more durable than previous versions.
But, are Teslas solar shingles actually worth the hype theyve been getting in the media for the past six years?
Solar Panel Material Differences
Teslas marketing literature suggests theres eight different tiles available. Tesla currently offers a textured style, which Tobler chose, as well as smooth. Tuscan and slate styles are set to ship later. Each of these four comes in both solar and non-solar varieties. Simple, right?
Not quite. These eight all use a tempered glass three times stronger than slate or asphalt, as outlined in this Tesla animation:
Its part of why Tesla can offer an infinity warranty on the tiles with 30 years coverage for its power-generating capabilities and weatherization. Unfortunately, the strong glass makes them unsuitable for cutting to size, so Tesla also produces a variety of non-solar tiles with weaker glass. Youll find these ones around the edges of the house, by the chimney, and anywhere else where Tesla needs to cut a tile to size.
The solar tiles themselves are extremely strong and you can walk on them, but to be able to put ladders on some of the edge pieces, we were concerned about making sure everything stayed intact, Tobler says. We actually temporarily went offline and had a strip of tiles removed so the painter could put a ladder all around the edge.
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